Miyu Yamano
Miyu (美夕) also known as Miyu Yamano (山野 美夕 Yamano Miyu), is a beautiful girl who appears to be 13 or 14 years old but in fact is much older, being a vampire. Even though she is a vampire, Miyu isn't harmed by sunlight, holy water or crucifixes, and her reflection can be seen. Though she does need to drink blood to survive, she chooses her 'victims' carefully. She chooses people who have suffered a tragic loss, and offers them their greatest wish – to be with their lost loved ones, - at least in their dreams – in exchange for their blood. These people live an endless dream state forever. In Japanese, Miyu is voiced by Naoko Watanabe (in OVA) and Miki Nagasawa (in anime). In English, she is voiced by Pamela Wiedner (AnimEigo dub), and Anne Marie Zola (Manga UK dub), both in the OVA. Also in the anime series, voiced by Kimberly J. Brown (Episodes 1-7) and Dorothy Elias-Fahn (Episodes 8-26). Background In the OVA, she is the child of a human father and a vampire mother in post–World War II Japan. In the TV series, on the other hand, her mother is human and her father is a Shinma guardian in pre-World War II Empire of Japan. In both cases, Miyu becomes the Guardian (also referred to as the "Watcher") after losing her parents. When Miyu was about 14 years old, she found out that her father was a Shinma from her human mother. (Prior to that, she was told that her father died but kept in conviction that both of her parents were human.) Depending on the version as Manga, Ova's and TV series, Miyu either herself wanted to know the truth, or came to know it when the time of the awakening came. The fate of her mother is also different depending on the medium as in TV or Ova's both her parents are killed while in the manga her mother merely forgets about Miyu's existence, while most other people generally do forget about Miyu's existence as she loses her status of a human. This leads Miyu to consider her fate as more of a curse. She often feels incredible sadness and loneliness prior to meeting Larva (Lava). Appearance Miyu has a beautiful and youthful appearance since she is a vampire. She has brown hair, golden pale eyes, pale and white skin and red lips (in the manga). When in her vampire appearance, Miyu is always barefoot (though her right foot has a ribbon-like wrapping around it) even in the snow as she doesn't get cold. In the OVA, she is seen to wear different clothes in every episode she appears in. For example in the first OVA, she wears her typical short kimono that is familiarized by all fans. In the second OVA, she wears a uniform during her stay at school and wears a bright red yukata when speaking to Himiko and confronting Ranka. In the third OVA, she wears a winter kimono, which seems to cover her body more than the other two garments. Finally in the fourth OVA, she wears a very heavy black kimono and also wears a mask. However in the TV series, she only wears two types of clothing: the typical uniform and the kimono known by all fans and that is shown on box covers. Personality In the TV series Miyu is shown with a more matured personality, while in the OVA's she is often depicted as childish and a bit creepy, enjoying and playing with human lives. In all mediums, she never wishes any humans harm and while she often may appear a bit hostile in the OVA's often taunting the human characters or her enemies, this could be considered a preventive strike, she's often very dependent on Larva and in the OVA's she did cry and panic when he was captured. In both TV series and OVA's,she experiences a terrible mental breakdown when her relationship with Larva is threatened. She does show impatience to people who disrespect them and might ignore or amuse herself with people trying to catch her. While she never kills any human, she does not stop humans killing themselves via their own ignorance. She might however warn them of the risks of their action, like in the first episode of the TV series where she warned the ignorant boy to not to follow her, obviously offended by the boys stereotyping her as a classical vampire, though she was willing to befriend him or was simply using his expertise on a case she worked on. In the manga she posses as a sweet caring personality often visiting humans whom she captured and in all series its also considered as a coping mechanism as she's depended on and willingly gives blood. Relationships Love Interest Larva The relationship between Miyu and Larva is a weird and yet beautiful part of the story. As Miyu says, Larva is her "soul servant and friend". Ever since she's been given the task of returning stray Shinma to the Dark, Larva is always with Miyu helping her by fighting with his sharp hands. Miyu's task may take centuries. And she may not be able to resist if it weren't for Larva. He's the one whom Miyu shares her secrets with as well as her sorrow. She thinks about Larva as her servant, her only friend and possibly her lover. They met each other when Larva came to Japan in order to kill her. They continued fighting until Miyu was hurt by Larva's sharp hands. Larva thought that he had kill her but this only made the awakening of Miyu as a vampire, so she bit him and drink his blood. However, Larva was reborn, for Miyu's immortal blood mixed with his own. From that moment, they've been tied together by each other's blood. It was then when Larva found out about Miyu's cursed fate. Knowing her sadness, Larva freely chose to be forever at Miyu's side. He also received the same power as the Guardian's. Miyu asked Larva to look after her life. If she should ever want to run away from her destiny, then Larva would end her life. They have shown great concern for each other and mutual love feelings. In the manga series, they even kiss. Gallery Trivia * ﻿She is technically a Daywalker, having one human parent and one vampire. *﻿She is protective of Larva and has great concern for him. *﻿In Japanese, "Miyu" means "beauty of the evening", "beautiful evening" or "evening beauty". *﻿Miyu likes beautiful things. *﻿She can teleport, levitate, open dimensional portals, and use fire attacks (which also come in handy when sending a Shinma to "The Darkness"). *She likes older men. *Its really unknown what happens to the victim if he or she gives his or hers blood to Miyu unconditionally as she often uses the Eternal dream as a reward for sharing the blood with her. *Miyu might in fact be very romantic and sexually active despite what she says and is very sensitive and naive like a child. Thought this seems more correct in reference to the OVA or manga version as in the TV series, she has a strong belief that humans and shinmas can't form a stable relationships and appears to act very disturbed at the prospect , her personality is more colder and mature in the TV series and she avoids flirting, unlike her ova counterpart. Unlike her OVA or manga version the TV series, Miyu considers her state as a burden and un-natural , and does rarely befriend humans , this can come from the fact that she fears humans could be subjected to a terrible fate if they get closer to her , partially influenced by her past, despite the fact that the events with Chisato were a pre planned trap by the Black kite and the bird shinmas , she blames herself for the human victims and the fact Chisato ,who was not aware of being a shinma suffered. In the OVA's and the manga, Miyu appears more sociable, enjoying teasing humans and flirtings and her relationships with Lava appears to be an open one. *It is never directly stated whether the coma that results is a part of a spell or Miyu biting the victim and why she has to take the blood or willing victims, thought it might be suggested as a mere rule of conduct she adopted after being disgusted by the actions of her enemies. *Technically the English version of the anime title is incorrect as the Japanese word "Hime" doesn't mean a princess, but instead is an archaic word that can be used in reference to any beautiful maiden. Also Miyu's parents aren't aristocratic as neither her mother nor her father carried any royal titles, instead Miyu's role is very similar to a priestess as she often combats evil demons protecting humans and the shinmas themselves don't treat Miyu as royalty or as an aristocratic woman. There is no aristocracy as understood in Western sense in Japan and instead both Miyu and Kaguya (another popular character known as the Princess Kaguya of the moon) are called Hime because of their beauty and the fact men were attracted to them. This could be a reference to both Miyu's elegance and otherworldly beauty and not a social status in the shinma world. Miyu most likely would be a commoner, while the world might be used to address the princess (the daughter of monarch is officially addressed as OJO). In reality, it's just used to highlight the princess beauty and the correct English translation should be maiden or fair lady and not princess, hence despite the popular belief by fans Miyu isn't a vampire princess, but just a very beautiful vampire girl. *As a species, Miyu is a dhampir, a mixture of vampire and human and thus she doesn't carry any vampire trait. However, the fact she belongs to the shinma race might suggest that Miyu isn't a vampire at all, but merely a vampire like being or simply a spiritual entity *Technically it would be more correct to refer to Miyu's as well as other shinmas as youkais as the folklore and demonology of the series is more closely related to Japanese traditional folklore than Western vampire tales. Category:Anime Heroes Category:Manga Heroes Category:Paranormal Category:Dark Fantasy Heroes Category:Female Category:Teenagers Category:Vampires Category:Mentally Ill Category:Hybrids Category:In Love